worst types of episodes from any series

[drad_dog]

@Not_a_Platypus

Ugh, yes. Coupling is probably the only show I’ve seen do one of those reasonably well.

My least favorite types of episodes are related: non-geek main characters have to investigate geek-related things, complete with tired stereotype jokes and general culture misrepresentation, or the characters somehow get trapped in a video game! Oh no!

Another that doesn’t show up in too many shows, but is still frustrating to watch, are the episodes with two characters that are very close and have been around or worked with each other long-term, but one of them has been possessed by some supernatural being! They act oddly the entire episode, the personality shift is sudden and coincides with investigating a hinky probably-haunted place, it’s probably happened before (I’m looking at you, X-files), but the other person invariably doesn’t realize something is wrong. Mulder! Scully! Have a fucking code word so you know the other person is really themselves!

Yeh. The “Plushy” episode from SVU Las Vegas or somewhere.

[oft_wears_hats]

I’ve never been much of a fan of the “good guy pretends to be a bad guy” trope, myself.

[Gothic]

1. Any episode that gives a silly reason to turn it into a reason for showing a best of moments.

2. Finding forgotten sections in a space station.

3. Child births.

4. Anything harming a kid.

[terentii]

@oft_wears_hats

I’ve never been much of a fan of the “good guy pretends to be a bad guy” trope, myself.

Or “the good guy has an evil doppelganger,” or “the bad guy ends up helping the good guys, and dies at the end.”

[Smeghead]

The episode in which we turn from the major characters we actually care about, and spend a day exploring our setting from the point of view of usually-nameless extras in the background that we’ll never see or hear about again. AKA the “let’s see if we can get away with not paying our stars for an episode” episode.

[terentii]

@Smeghead

The episode in which we turn from the major characters we actually care about, and spend a day exploring our setting from the point of view of usually-nameless extras in the background that we’ll never see or hear about again. AKA the “let’s see if we can get away with not paying our stars for an episode” episode.

Or the “letter home/official report episode” where an outsider observes the series’ regulars and remarks on how eccentric they are.

[AncientHumanoid]

@Smeghead

The episode in which we turn from the major characters we actually care about, and spend a day exploring our setting from the point of view of usually-nameless extras in the background that we’ll never see or hear about again. AKA the “let’s see if we can get away with not paying our stars for an episode” episode.

Doctor Who’s “Blink” and TNG’s “Lower Decks” actually did pretty good versions of this, imho, ymmv. (Heck, ymmv about whether these eps count in that way at all.)

But, yeah, generally speaking, those tend to be bologna eps. (What you eat/watch when there’s nothing left in/on the fridge/boobtube).

:eek: - “nothing left?!”

[Mudshark]

Backdoor pilot episodes are rarely worth watching.

[GuanoLad]

Prequel episodes. Suits does at least one every season, and they are usually poorly done and inconsequential to the main story arcs, though they try to shoehorn some kind of point. I’ve seen many other shows do these too, and they’re almost always tedious and embarrassing, with the cast in youthful wigs.

[Dale_Sams]

@oft_wears_hats

I’ve never been much of a fan of the “good guy pretends to be a bad guy” trope, myself.

That made me think…can you all think of any eps done in the vein of "Told from the bad guys POV…and it actually makes you think “Are they the bad guys”? I don’t mean a “Ceresi POV chapter” where it’s obvious they are just deluded, but one where they make you think?

Seems DS9 danced around this, but didn’t have the balls to go all in.

[Oglomott]

Any show where a character gets amnesia.

Any show where a character suddenly has a long lost twin.

“Fantasy” episodes.

Any episode where Lucy puts on a disguise and tries to get into Ricky’s show.

[The_Other_Waldo_Pepper]

@TheInimitableMaven

I see that BrainGlutton beat me to the punch on the Rashomon…but still easily my pick for worst episode format.

LEVERAGE managed to get it right.

[Just_Asking_Questions]

@The_Other_Waldo_Pepper

LEVERAGE managed to get it right.

Yep!

How many shows have had them?

Leverage
Gilligan’s Island
Magnum PI
X Files
others?

You know, I’ve always thought Rashomon the film is the worst rashomon episode. The stories are supposed to be differences of perspective. The facts are the same, but the interpretation of them is different*. But as I remember it (heh heh) the stories in Rashomon didn’t even agree on the facts. I think someone was dead in one version that wasn’t in the others? It would be easy to tell who was lying there - look for the body.
*Giligan’s Island was a comedy, and it was obvious they weren’t telling their versions like they remembered it, but were trying to outdo the others in heroics.

[AncientHumanoid]

@Oglomott

Any episode where Lucy puts on a disguise and tries to get into Ricky’s show.

Star Trek did that one, too. TOS’ Turnabout Intruder and TNG’s Data’s Day

not really

[Lamia]

@Just_Asking_Questions

You know, I’ve always thought Rashomon the film is the worst rashomon episode. The stories are supposed to be differences of perspective. The facts are the same, but the interpretation of them is different*. But as I remember it (heh heh) the stories in Rashomon didn’t even agree on the facts.

That’s kind of the point of Rashomon, actually.

[mistymage]

“Groundhog Day” episodes. The latest one I watched was on Z-Nation and… it made me wish both of the “stars” had been bitten by a zombie. And then been given Mercy.

[Annie-Xmas]

Any episode that features “hippies.”

[Sitnam]

Christmas episodes are terrible, the only exception is Big Bang Theory’s featuring the Leonard Nemoy gift.

[oft_wears_hats]

@Sitnam

Christmas episodes are terrible, the only exception is Big Bang Theory’s featuring the Leonard Nemoy gift.

I’ve always thought that American Dad had excellent Christmas episodes, since they usually just use the Christmas backdrop to enhance a normal plot:

[ol]
[li]A Christmas Carol turning into a time-travel story[/li][li]An expedition to get a Christmas tree turning into Stan breaking into Jesus’ birthday party in Heaven[/li][li]The Smiths fighting for their lives against Santa’s army[/li][li]A 1980s style post-rapture-apocalypse movie[/li][/ol]

Clever ideas, even more so since they were lampshading how silly and hackneyed most Christmas episodes are. Even though time-travel is pretty cliche, the idea to staple it to A Christmas Carol was genius.

[Finagle]

In SF, I hate time travel episodes. Particularly the “let’s unwind the bad decision and have everything be just as it was” versions (e.g. Voyager, Year of Hell episode). Once you allow time travel, nothing really ever matters because you have a big red reset switch. Star Trek is really the worst offender here, and the less said about the completely idiotic reboot, the better.